This energetic city merges the down-home and the dynamic in everything from culture to cuisine

In 1951, when Jack Kerouac wrote in On the Road, "A gray shroud fell over the city. The mountains, the magnificent Rockies that you can see to the west from any part of town, were 'papier-mâché,'" he couldn't have imagined how powerfully his description of Denver would resonate nearly six decades later.

Today those sentences are resurrected inside the city's two-year-old Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) building. Designed by acclaimed London-based architect David Adjaye, the museum sits like a smoked-glass jewel box on the edge of downtown. Inside, a cascading felt scroll by artist Arlene Shechet juxtaposes Kerouac's words against Adjaye's poetic, airy space. "Denver—this mountainous outpost in Kerouac's eyes—becomes a place much more modern and urban in the eyes of Adjaye," says the museum's director, Adam Lerner. It's fitting then that while the peaks rise up behind it, the MCA itself faces the vibrant streets.

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A bustling metropolitan area of 2.5 million (600,000 of whom live in Denver proper), the city has come a long way since it was first founded—thanks to the promise of gold—on the banks of the South Platte River in 1858. A year later the rough-and-tumble mining community was officially given its name (probably after governor of the Kansas Territory James Denver), and in 1876 it became Colorado's state capital. At the turn of the century, Denver grew dramatically more civilized under mayor Robert Speer, who was inspired by the City Beautiful movement to enhance and humanize it with what is still one of the most extensive systems of parks—there are 205 in total—in the country.

This, plus Denver's dedication to public art, has made an impression on newcomers such as Raina Cox, an Indianapolis transplant who writes the popular design blog If the Lamp Shade Fits. "There are lovely parks hidden all over—and a great many of them with fabulous public sculpture," she says. Denver's rich collection of sometimes polarizing work includes local artist John McEnroe's National Velvet, a mystifying obelisk of blood-red, stacked, sausagelike blobs, and Lawrence Argent's I See What You Mean, a 40-foot-tall blue bear that peers into the cantilevered Convention Center. "Some are beloved," says the MCA's Lerner, "and some are only sometimes loved, but all are powerful."

The Frederic C. Hamilton Building, a bold new addition to the Denver Art Museum (DAM), is similarly challenging. Designed by Daniel Libeskind, the fractured, titanium-sheathed building—there's not a 90-degree angle to speak of in the 146,000-square-foot structure—has inspired both admiration and loathing. But then Libeskind has said, "The notion that the best architecture is silent has never appealed to me. Cities should be full of vibrations, full of sound, full of music."

The neighborhood surrounding the DAM certainly buzzes. Within 12 square blocks are some 20 cultural attractions, including the original museum building designed by Gio Ponti, Michael Graves's whimsical public library, and the neoclassical Civic Center. Soon Allied Works Architecture will break ground on a nearby museum dedicated to painter Clyfford Still. "Having all those buildings play off one another shows the opportunities that lie in architecture," says Darrin Alfred, DAM's associate curator of graphic design, who relocated from California's Bay Area two years ago. "In San Francisco, that never would have happened."

Creative optimism is tightly knit into the fabric of Denver. It is a city of the West, and the mind-set here is intrinsically linked to those mountain-bound, gold-seeking settlers. This undercurrent can be felt in residents' laid-back, work-to-live lifestyle (most office buildings are empty after 5 p.m.) and seen in quirky projects such as Adam Lerner's lecture series at the MCA, "Mixed Taste," which pairs experts on seemingly disparate topics like roller derby and Verismo opera and lets the speakers duke it out. Even forward-thinking design incorporates a mix of high and low, as in local firm DoubleButter's deceptively simple handcrafted wood and steel furniture or Christopher Watson's cowhide-covered bergères. Above all, says Mikhail Dantes, co-owner of Town Showrooms and one of Denver's top decorators, design here must be livable and functional.

Emblematic of this is Taxi, a socially conscious new urban development. Over eight years, a sprawling former Yellow Cab Company terminal—essentially a wasteland—has been transformed into a living and work space with 40 residents and more than 45 creative businesses, including architects, photographers, and structural engineers. The 20-acre project employed a collaborative approach: Architects Harry Teague from Aspen, David Baker from San Francisco, and Will Bruder from Phoenix worked in tandem to blend modern form with industrial context. The result is a development so raw and unconventional that it practically vibrates with energy.

Taxi lies across the South Platte River from River North Art District (RiNo), a burgeoning neighborhood where crumbling buildings have been taken over by painters, graphic designers, and woodworkers. The Dry Ice Factory, previously a decrepit warehouse, now functions as a visual-artists' co-op with 30 studios. The southern gateway to RiNo is marked by Plus Gallery, an exhibition space devoted to contemporary works by locals. The eight-year-old institution, which is owned by Ivar and Karen Zeile, recently moved into a renovated former Benjamin Moore paint factory. The Zeiles added a modern cube structure, and the building, with its 1940s brickwork and eye-catching stamped steel, now looks like an abstract sculpture all its own.

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This blending of new and old has become the norm. Downtown, high rises like the soon-to-open Four Seasons hotel are juxtaposed against Larimer Square—a block-long historic district that once housed Denver's first post office, bookstore, and bank—and the nearby spindly Daniels and Fisher Tower, the tallest building west of the Mississippi when it was constructed in 1910. Just down the street, a glass arch extends over the Denver Performing Arts Complex, which covers four square blocks and holds ten venues. The second-largest arts center in the country, it is no stranger to world premieres.

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"Denver is the perfect size so you can embrace all the hidden gems within," says Megan Hudacky, owner of the interior-architecture firm CKY Design. "In the heart of downtown, the historical brick façades are reinvented with modern interiors. A single bike path can lead you from one end of the city to the other." Janice Woods, owner of Black Tulip Antiques, a celebrated European furnishings store, especially admires Arapahoe Acres, a unique collection of 124 Usonian and International Style homes, the first post–World War II subdivision to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Denver also enjoys a vibrant restaurant scene that extends far beyond the steak and potatoes the city is often associated with. Simple and scaled-down cuisine does well, says Nelson Perkins, a Denver native and chef-owner of the newly opened Colt & Gray. "In New York it's always about the next trend. Here it's about being more timeless and not getting too married to any one philosophy—other than putting good food and drink on the table." Perkins's refined cooking—and his experience at Manhattan's Blue Hill and Public—speaks for itself with each bite of his herb-crusted rack of lamb with glazed lamb belly. At Fuel Cafe, currently Taxi's only restaurant, owner Bob Blair cooks according to his whims, which might mean chickpeas with pickled onions and roast carrots one day and fried chicken with romesco potatoes the next. Of course, traditional Colorado cuisine (e.g., bison, venison, and Rocky Mountain oysters) can still be found at spots such as the Western-themed, taxidermy-bedecked, 116-year-old Buckhorn Exchange. It's full of tourists, but it's also pure old-school Colorado.

And at its core, Denver is both Western and modern. The intersection of these two ideals—and the distant mountains—infuse it with an optimism that permeates every facet of life. "We can build the world afresh," the MCA's Lerner says. "That's the spirit of Denver."

Go for a stroll. City Park (17th Ave. and York St.) offers unparalleled views of downtown and the mountains. One look and it won't surprise that the green space was designed with Manhattan's Central Park in mind.

Experience a legendary venue. Set in the mountains about an hour outside the city, the outdoor amphitheater Red Rocks (18300 W. Alameda Pkwy., Morrison, 720-865-2494; redrocksonline.com) is magical year-round.

Rediscover the joy of browsing. The Tattered Cover Book Store (1628 16th St., 436-1070; tatteredcover.com) is iconic for its creaky floors, fireplace, and historic building.

WHAT TO SEE

Arapahoe Acres, bounded by E. Bates and Dartmouth avenues and S. Marion and Franklin streets; arapahoeacres.org: This cluster of Usonian and International Style homes, just south of the city, was the nation's first postwar subdivision to be added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art, 1311 Pearl St., 832-8576; kirklandmuseum.org: An extensive (if quirky) array of modern decorative arts in the former school and studio of painter Vance Kirkland.

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Larimer Square, between 14th and 15th streets on Larimer St.; larimersquare.com: The shops and tony restaurants on this historic block get even more festive during the holidays.

Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, 1485 Delgany St., 298-7554; mcadenver.org: British architect David Adjaye's first public building in the U.S. utilizes natural light to make viewing art an intimate experience.

WHERE TO STAY

The Brown Palace Hotel, 321 17th St., 297-3111; brownpalace.com: With the exception of Calvin Coolidge, every U.S. president since Teddy Roosevelt has visited.

The Curtis, 1405 Curtis St., 571-0300; thecurtis.com: Funky and cool, this boutique hotel in the theater district exudes unconventional attitude.

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Hotel Monaco, 1717 Champa St., 296-1717; monaco-denver.com: The services at this pet-friendly Kimpton property extend even to the loaning of goldfish during your stay.

Beatrice & Woodsley, 38 S. Broadway, 777-3505; beatriceandwoodsley.com: This dreamy space has stands of aspens growing out of the floor, rough-hewn furniture, and a bar that's anchored with chain saws. The high-end eats are good too.

Colt & Gray, 1553 Platte St., 477-1447; coltandgray.com: A haute gastropub that does pig trotters as well as it does lobster bangers and mash.